Sportsnet's New Channel "One" Only Available To Rogers Subscribers

Maybe this should carry a parental warning: Words appearing in this column may be upsetting to passionate Toronto Blue Jays fans who don’t subscribe to Rogers Cable.

Two words in particular might set them to gnashing their teeth and rending their garments. Those words are Raptors and TSN2.

This may be alarmist, but with Rogers Sportsnet One set to launch Saturday the new channel that will carry 25 Blue Jays games this season — including four in the upcoming week — is available only to Rogers subscribers. It’s possible that may change by the end of Friday or within the next week, but there’s no assurance of that.

“At this point, we know that it will be on Rogers,” said Rogers Communications spokesperson Jan Innes. “We are still in discussions with other carriers.”

It’s also possible that Sportsnet could get itself into the same battle with the likes of Bell TV and Cogeco that TSN2 did with Rogers two years ago. It was a fight that resulted in thousands of disgruntled Raptors fans not being able to watch their favourite team.

The fact that Sportsnet One’s first distribution deal is with Rogers, I’m told, has nothing to do with the fact they’re owned by the same company. Negotiations, I’m also told, were tough.

"Rogers Media recently announced the launch of Sportsnet ONE in addition to the existing Sportsnet (East, Ontario, West and Pacific) channels we currently offer. Shaw is currently reviewing this potential new service. Thank you for your interest and we will inform you if and when the channel is offered"

There's always the avenue of watching live streaming of games on the Internet. Both for free and on Nba broadband

That works really good except they blackout the games on NBA/TV which means those of us who live in the States and watch the Raptors will miss the Nets-Raptors series in London, unless I go the free internet route - I'm crushed, simply crushed.

Raptors NBA Broadband Access viewers should demand a major discount for 10-11 because they will miss those games.

Some would say that Raptors fans should demand a major discount at the ACC for going to the Raptors game in 10-11

NBA/TV is kind of the half-way house between NBA Broadband Access; i.e, the who cares broadcasts and the ESPN/ABC and TNT broadcasts; i.e., ESPN loves you broadcasts

Man, I had Rogers 2 years ago when there was no TSN2 to watch the Raps. Now I have Bell and this happens again? They better fix this by the start of the season or I'll write them a letter stating how angry I am over this!

This new channel is gonna show a big chunk of the Raptors season, correct? C'mon, Bell! Get on this. I refuse to watch the Raptors on a computer.

Yup, this upcoming season they'll be a minimum 23 Raptors games exclusive to this new channel. Rumour right now is that Bell and Sportsnet are nowhere close to an agreement either. Hence why its called "Rogers Sportsnet".

This is a classic example of how companies like Rogers make it harder to get a product/service legitimately in their quest for higher profits, and end up pushing more people to the illegal/free option purely because it's more convenient. It's the same reason I get mad when I buy a dvd. Every time I start it and have to sit through the 60+seconds of FBI warnings and preview shit, I keep thinking "if I had downloaded an illegal rip, I'd be watching the movie by now."

He's furious his cable provider, Shaw Cable, is not picking up the 24/7 sports channel which launched Aug. 14 -- only on Rogers systems.

"I'm a sports nut," Glover said. "I've done what I can. I've phoned Shaw. If you call in to get service, they say something to the effect that, 'We are considering this potential channel.' It's so offensive. I've e-mailed Sportsnet, I've phoned and e-mailed the Blue Jays, saying, 'Why are you letting the cable companies screw around with your fan base?' "

The Rogers Sportsnet web-site describes the new channel as featuring "more than 800 hours of live sports programming" in digital and high definition, including the Jays, Toronto Raptors and Barclays Premier League soccer.

As of Thursday night, the official flagship television station for Canada's Major League Baseball team had transferred 21 of the remaining Jays games to Sportsnet One. Yet, most Canadians -- and Calgarians like Glover -- don't get the channel.

"It'd be safe to say if our fans aren't happy, that's a concern of ours," said Jays vice-president of communications Jay Stenhouse. "I hope people don't think we don't care about Calgary because yes we do and we have passionate fans across the country."

2010 FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP to Air Exclusively on TSN2
Posted on Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 11:40 AM
TSN2

TSN2 and Canada Basketball have reached a comprehensive agreement making TSN2 the exclusive broadcaster for the upcoming 2010 FIBA World Championship. As part of the two-year agreement, TSN2 will also be the exclusive Canadian broadcaster for the 2010 FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN, 2011 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP and the 2011 FIBA AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN.

TSN2’s 2010 FIBA World Championship coverage will feature all Team Canada games along with the playoffs and finals. Coverage begins on Saturday, Aug. 28 with Canada vs. Lebanon at 11:30 a.m. ET live from Turkey